A/N: Me. And. My. Overnight. Oneshots! I swear, most of my oneshots were come up with in the late evening-later night and then written same-day. It's depriving me of my sleep! *pout*
Title: Walks of Life
Author: liketolaugh
Rating: T
Pairings: None
Genre: Family/Drama
Warnings: None
Summary: Albus chose to be a professor. Aberforth was recruited to be an exorcist.
Disclaimer: Like hell I own D. Gray-man. And Harry Potter? Yeah, right.
"Albus," Aberforth greeted stiffly as he looked into the fire, currently bright green.
Albus gave him a sheepish smile back. Albus had picked up the most annoying amiable habits over the past few years.
"Why are you calling?" Aberforth asked bluntly.
Albus sighed and let the smile fall reluctantly. "I have good news. May I come through?"
For a long moment, Aberforth genuinely considered saying no, but then Albus would give him those pathetic sad eyes and he would feel bad for at least three seconds.
He let his brother through.
For a few minutes, he wasted time pattering around making tea for both of them while Albus sat awkwardly at the table, looking at him with those sad eyes regardless. He ignored him valiantly and continued to make tea.
Finally, though, he could postpone it no longer and set a cup of tea in front of his brother, sitting down across from him with his own.
"On with it," Aberforth said impatiently, not bothering to hide his dislike of the man in front of him - twenty-four to his twenty-one, now.
Albus visibly considered looking depressed by his tone, but apparently his joy at this news overrode it. He smiled. "I have been made the transfiguration professor of Hogwarts," he revealed, looking utterly pleased with himself.
Aberforth snorted. "Of course you were. What were they going to do, say no?"
Albus seemed to take this as praise of his abilities and beamed at Aberforth. "I was worried that they would say no, since I'm so young," he admitted, blue eyes sparkling. "But Headmaster Dippet seemed quite pleased with my request."
"Of course," Aberforth repeated, rolling his eyes at his older brother. "Was that all?"
Albus deflated slightly, but any reply he might have made was delayed by the knocking at the door. Both men paused.
Very few people came to visit Aberforth, which might have something to do with the way he kept moving. Most of them Apparated. The rest used the Floo.
Slowly, Aberforth stood up, crossed the room to the door, and opened it with a creak. (Aberforth was not very attentive about his upkeep.)
On the other side was a girl with shoulder length, dark green hair and warm violet eyes, smiling at him. She held herself confidently, and a bit like a dancer, maybe, ready to move.
"Hello, sir," she greeted politely. "My name is Lenalee, and I have something rather important to talk to you about."
"Can it wait?" Aberforth grunted, already itching to close the door.
Lenalee's smile vanished, and her eyes turned serious. Aberforth suddenly felt wary. "I'm afraid not. You see, it's about the attacks around your house recently."
"Attacks?" Albus asked sharply, and Aberforth felt like cursing. Albus hadn't known about those, and now he was sure to pester him until he explained.
Recently, creatures - round with creepy faces and lots of tubes all over their bodies, all looking approximately alike - had been attacking his house. (He was glad he lived alone, with no one else in the area.) He'd been able to get rid of them, with effort, using a wandless blasting spell that seemed to tire him out more than any normal one ought to.
"Come in, then," he said with ill grace, opening the door further to allow her to step through.
She gave him a grateful smile and entered the house, sitting next to Albus with a smile and a nod, though Albus hadn't yet taken his attention off his brother and gave her only a distracted smile in return.
"Attacks, Aberforth?" Albus prompted, looking concerned.
"Yeah," Aberforth admitted grudgingly, closing the door and returning to his seat. "Don't know what they are, but they aren't that hard to get rid of." One or two at a time, anyway. That one time, just three days ago, when there were three-
"They're called akuma," Lenalee broke in gently. Then, before either could request elaboration, she continued, "Akuma are servants of someone called the Millenium Earl, and they seek only to kill humans and evolve. It's in their nature, and there are thousands, maybe millions of them all over the world."
"And?" Aberforth prompted. "What're they swarming around here for?"
"That's why I'm here," Lenalee replied, clasping her hands on the table in front of her and leaning forward slightly. Beneath the table, her legs crossed at the ankle, and Albus glanced down at the clinking sound that created. Two red bangles sat around her ankles. "Akuma are attracted to two things: large concentrations of people, and a substance called Innocence."
Aberforth raised an eyebrow. "There aren't a lotta people 'round here," he said guardedly.
"No, there aren't," Lenalee agreed. "Let me explain about Innocence first, though. Innocence is sometimes known as God Matter, but more importantly, it's the only thing that can destroy akuma."
Never let it be known that either Dumbledore brother is a fool. Aberforth curled his hands into fists, and Albus' eyes widened slightly.
Lenalee nodded at both of them, hands clasped in front of her, and continued, "Innocence is useless without people known as accommodators, who use the Innocence in its weaponized form." Then, no longer dancing around the topic, she continued, "The Order received word about the significant increase in akuma attacks around the area. You've been dispatching them, haven't you, Aberforth?"
Aberforth nodded once, shortly. "Yeah, I have. What about it?"
She smiled. It wasn't a happy smile. "I work for an organization called the Black Order. We collect Innocence and destroy akuma, and to destroy akuma, we need exorcists - accommodators who have been trained. That, I'm afraid, is where you come in."
Aberforth shifted away slightly, regarding her with a slight frown as she continued to smile what he now identified as an apologetic smile. When he didn't speak, Albus did.
"You don't want- Ab to fight in your war?" he asked, tangibly horrified. Albus was always the naive one.
Lenalee tilted her head toward him in acknowledgement. "Got it in one," she admitted. "The Order needs all of the exorcists we can get. We're-" Her mouth twisted ironically, and a little bitterly. "A little low on numbers."
Albus didn't miss the subtext of that, either. He made to speak, but Aberforth cut him off.
"What if I refuse?" he asked, leaning forward, eyes narrowed aggressively.
Abruptly, Lenalee's smile vanished, and her eyes turned to steel. "Mr. Dumbledore-" So she did know his name. "-the Black Order have, currently, fewer than twenty exorcists to fight uncountable akuma. I've seen the havoc akuma wreak on a city. I have seen cities of which there is nothing left, and so has the rest of the Order. I have seen more exorcists die than I like to think about. And if you can stand by and let that happen, then you do not deserve to call yourself a human being."
Aberforth was startled by her venomous rant, bright blue eyes wide behind his spectacles. Albus' mouth was tight, torn between his protectiveness of his brother and his understanding of the 'Greater Good'. Aberforth both understood, and felt disgusted.
Lenalee's voice and expression both softened, and she continued, "If," and she hesitated over the word, "you joined, you wouldn't be able to speak to your brother again."
"Why not?" Albus asked, worried and a little indignant.
Lenalee's apologetic smile returned, though it was still lined with something hard and brittle. "Akuma are created when the Earl speaks to someone who has recently lost someone they loved very much, and offers to bring them back, and they accept. I'm sorry, but there have just been too many incidents of loved ones who were informed of an exorcist's death, and turned them into an akuma."
"Merlin," Albus whispered, looking dismayed. Even Aberforth looked a little pale, still frozen in the position he'd taken when he'd challenged her.
But finally, he settled down and sighed. Considered, for a short eternity. "...Alright," he said finally. "Fine."
"Aberforth!" Albus exclaimed, before he could stop himself, worry coloring his voice.
"What?" Aberforth snapped back, fiery. "Are you going to pretend to care now? When even today you only came over to brag about your fancy new job?"
"I wanted you to know!" Albus protested, looking startled and hurt. "I thought you'd be proud!"
"It was obvious you'd get it!" Aberforth hissed. "You're brilliant, amazing, perfect Albus Dumbledore, never mind little Aberforth!"
"I've never thought that way, Ab!" Albus denied, upset now.
"Don't lie!" Aberforth snarled. "Don't lie, Albus, when you and I both remember perfectly well when you would put yourself above me in an instant, because of your potential, your plans!"
A slender form stepped between them, and both became suddenly aware that they'd stood up. Lenalee stood between them, alternating her glare from one brother to the other.
"Don't fight!" she snapped harshly, violet eyes set in an angry glare. "Don't forget, today might be the last time you ever see each other. It's not the time for quarrels."
Aberforth noted dimly that she'd dropped all pretense that he could say no, and deflated slightly. She was… sort of right.
Looking up at his brother, he could see the shame in his eyes, different from the sort that colored them often when he looked at Aberforth.
"You're right," Albus said to Lenalee, who gave him a sharp nod. To Aberforth, "I'm sorry. You're right, it's your choice."
"Damn straight," Aberforth muttered, but at Lenalee's glare, he said reluctantly, "I'm sorry for… accusing you."
Apparently satisfied, Lenalee smiled sweetly. She'd never explicitly said it, but Aberforth could easily believe that she was one of the people the Order depended on - these exorcists. She seemed like a fighter.
It was a good thing, then, that Aberforth was a fighter, too.
She slipped out from between them, light on her feet, and smiled at both of them, more brightly now. "We should probably go soon," she said to Aberforth. "So say goodbye."
Something tightened in Aberforth's chest, and he looked at Albus, who looked heartbroken.
"Ab…" He trailed off, still looking dismayed. Aberforth sighed, and looked him directly in the eye, deadly serious.
"Albus, look at her age," he said quietly, eyes intent. "She can't be a day over nineteen - if she can fight, then so can I."
"I'm actually seventeen," Lenalee admitted. Albus looked like he actually felt worse after that, but as long as it got his point across, Aberforth didn't care.
"Okay," Albus said finally. Then, to Aberforth's shock and alarm, he leaned forward to hug his little brother - just for a moment, but still longer than Aberforth would like,
"What in Merlin…" he muttered, not moving to hug back, but neither to pull away - mostly just because Albus already was.
"Stay safe, Aberforth," Albus told him earnestly, blue eyes giving him that sad look. Again.
Aberforth nodded awkwardly, and backed away as soon as Albus released him. "Goodbye, Albus," he said finally, as Lenalee waited by the door expectantly.
"Goodbye, Aberforth," Albus replied, feeling like he should be doing something - anything.
But no. There was no heading this off.
Aberforth nodded one last time, and then turned and abruptly walked out the door. Lenalee made as if to follow, and then looked over her shoulder and offered one last reassuring smile.
"I'll get him safely to headquarters," she promised him earnestly. "Don't worry, I've been doing this for over a decade."
And she closed the door behind her.
Albus didn't sleep that night, nor for a great many nights after.
So that is a little different from what I originally planned, but I think it turned out well. (You have no idea how many characters I considered before I settled on Aberforth, partially because he fit the timeline, and then I thought about how he acted later and it just fit so well.) Well, thanks for reading, and please review!
Edited 7/28/2015